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Ecological Significance of the Mount Everett Summit

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Ecological Significance of the Mount Everett Summit Ecological Significance of the Mount Everett Summit Preliminary Evaluations and Recommendations for Additional Research and Protection Prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management and Town of Mount Washington, Massachusetts Robert T. Leverett, Executive Director Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest December 8, 1999 Revised January 24, 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS Report Highlights 4 Report on the Plant and Animal Communities of the Mount Everett Summit Robert T. Leverett Introduction 6 Study Objectives 8 Study Participants 9 Other Information Sources 9 Data Collection 11 Findings and Conclusions 12 Recommendations 13 A Brief History of the Mount Everett Summit and Comparison with Other South Taconic Summits Eleanor Tillinghast Historical References to Mount Everett’s Summit 15 Comparison to Other South Taconic Summits 19 Fire and Vegetation-Clearing History 23 Evidence of Early Native Americans On and Around Mount Everett 24 Ecological Assessment of Mount Everett Tom K. Wessels, Ph.D. 30 Lichen Survey of Mount Everett Summit, Southwest Berkshire County, Massachusetts Philip F. May 31 The Macrolepidopteran Fauna of Mount Everett, Massachusetts David L. Wagner 38 Rattlesnakes on Mount Everett Eleanor Tillinghast 42 Mount Everett Field Notes, Tree Core Data, and Report Joseph Choiniere 45 Tree-Ring Data and Observations on Pitch Pine Adaptations David A. Orwig, Ph.D. 48 2 Tree-Ring Data, Species Identification, and Informal Report on Mount Everett Site Visit, November 7, 1999 Rick Van de Poll, Ph.D. 49 The Pitch Pine Community of Mount Everett: Ecological Context and Importance Sara Webb, Ph.D. 51 Classification of Western Massachusetts Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak Ridgetops Sally Shaw and Frank Lowenstein 53 Additional Information 55 Old Growth Is Where You Find It Robert T. Leverett 79 Preliminary Bibliography: Pitch Pine Ridge Communities of the Northeast With Particular Reference to Mount Everett, Massachusetts Charles V. Cogbill, Ph.D. 82 3 Report Highlights The summit of Mount Everett is covered by approximately 20 acres of dwarfed pitch pines and associated plants. Compared with the other southern Taconic mountains, Mount Everett has the densest coverage of dwarf pitch pines over the greatest area. Only Race Mountain and to a lesser extent Bear Mountain approximate the pervasive dwarfing, density, and acreage of the pitch-pine community on Mount Everett. In Massachusetts, dwarf pitch pine communities represent less than one thousandth of one percent of the state’s land area. In New England, similar mountaintop dwarf pitch-pine communities are found only on Mount Cardigan in New Hampshire and Mount Desert Island in Maine. Smaller examples may exist but collectively their contribution is minuscule. In the northeast, the Shawangunk mountains in New York are the only other locations typically cited for extensive summit dwarf pitch-pine communities. The 360-degree views from Mount Everett's summit enabled by low vegetation have been described by writers since 1781. A Swedish naturalist noted the unusual barren summits of the South Taconics in 1749. Since the Mount Everett State Reservation was created by the state legislature in 1908, there have been no reports of fire or clearing that would account for the low vegetation on the summit. Research hasn't been completed on earlier records. There is evidence of early Native Americans on and around Mount Everett, but so far no references have been found to Native American fire or other vegetation-clearing practices there. Infrequent fires, less than one in a century, and rugged weather conditions have likely helped create and maintain the extreme dwarfism of the pitch pines for more than 6,000 years. If palynological research confirms this hypothesis, Mount Everett's pitch pine community would be of key historic importance -- a remnant from the middle Holocene era. Initial cores of pitch pines on the summit reveal maximum ages of up to 170 years. The Mount Everett pitch-pine community may be an example of an ancient, stable forest ecosystem composed of relatively young trees. 64 lichen species were collected from Mount Everett's summit over a 12-hour period this fall. Of those, three are considered noteworthy: One is an extremely rare lichen, previously known only from southeast Arizona and Costa Rica. One is apparently new to science. It was found on pitch pine bark. 4 An expert in Germany will be working this year to describe it, using the Mount Everett sample. The third is a tiny lichen that grows on weathered pinecones still attached to the tree. It has rarely been collected but is not uncommon. Two rare moth species have been discovered on the summit: One is listed as a Threatened species and another listed as a Special Concern species by the state’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Three uncommon moth species were also identified, as well as eight species that are rare below southwestern Massachusetts. Eastern timber rattlesnakes have been observed on Mount Everett, and a rattlesnake den is believed to be located there. Eastern timber rattlesnakes are listed as an Endangered species by the state. These data and observations are only preliminary because they are based on field trips conducted from September to November of 1999 and so don't take into account the growing season of Spring and Summer. Nonetheless, the report's contributors believe that the rarity of Mount Everett's dwarf pitch-pine community and the potential for finding other unusual and perhaps unique characteristics with more research mean that the summit should be protected as an undeveloped nature preserve. The report recommends that more in-depth scientific studies should be conducted on the summit and nothing should be done there that might affect this rare ecosystem. 5 Report on the Plant and Animal Communities of the Mount Everett Summit Robert T. Leverett Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest (413) 748-9254 (413) 538-8631 [email protected] December 8, 1999 INTRODUCTION Representatives of the town of Mount Washington, Massachusetts contacted me in August 1999 to solicit my help in assessing the ecological importance of the plant community atop Mount Everett in the southern Taconic mountains of southwestern Massachusetts. The contact stemmed from an informal report submitted by forester Dr. Paul Van Deusen calling attention to the dwarf pitch pines growing on the summit of Mount Everett. Dr. Van Deusen suspected that the 15- to 20-acre site of pitch pines might constitute an old-growth community of dwarfed trees, which would make them valuable both as old growth and as a rare plant community. Over the course of a couple of visits Dr. Van Deusen extracted cores from two dead trees for analysis and from tree-ring counts and his observations concluded that the pitch pines were probably between 100 and 200 years old, a fact that subsequent analysis has borne out. After an initial visit to the summit on September 11, 1999 with Eleanor Tillinghast and Morgan Bulkeley, and accompanied by Holyoke Community College professor Gary Beluzo and my wife Jani Leverett, I realized that the summit plant community was unlike any pitch pine community that I had previously visited. I was fascinated by the old-growth forms I observed in the exquisitely stunted pitch pines. They seemed to be natural bonsai forms. I had observed plenty of what I had considered to be stunted old growth pitch pines in sand-plain communities and on rock ledges, but I had never seen so many fully mature forms rising only one to three meters. I noticed the deep accumulation of organic matter around the pines. I also observed stunting in all other represented species. The stunting appeared to be the product of scant soils, frequent wind, snow and ice sculpting, and inadequate levels of moisture for sustaining growth. My initial impression from that first visit was that the Mount Everett plant community might indeed be an ecological treasure. I coordinated with Mr. William Rivers of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management [DEM] and notified Commissioner Peter Webber of my desire to gather data on the plant community. My conversations with Bill Rivers and e- mail communications with Commissioner Webber established the basis for proceeding with plans to obtain assistance from a number of highly respected scientists and naturalists to provide independent inputs. The following e-mail to Commissioner Webber set the stage for a three-month preliminary study of the plant and animal communities atop Mount Everett. From: Bob Leverett [SMTP:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 11:14 AM 6 To: [email protected] Cc: Beluzo, Gary; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Mount Everett Hello Peter: I thought it would be valuable if I gave you a personal assessment of my recent trip to the summit of Mt. Everett. In the interest of time, I'm sending the communication electronically. I will follow this e- mail with a letter, if you wish. The trip was made on behalf of both DEM (Bill Rivers) and the citizens of the town of Mount Washington. The trip's purpose was to do a preliminary survey of the plant community on Mount Everett's summit. As you may know, Dr. Paul Van Deusen recently alerted us to the old growth characteristics of the pitch pines at the summit. I have also been made aware of the concerns of the citizens of Mount Washington with respect to potential disturbances to the plant communities on Mount Everett's summit that might result from current DEM plans to refurbish the lookout tower and add telecommunications equipment to the summit. My HCC colleague Gary Beluzo and I made a preliminary investigation on September 11th. Both of us were quite impressed with what we saw.
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